Bicultural couples: from family to community

The paper examines the dynamics of bicultural couples in which one partner is autochthonous and the other is of foreign nationality. Two levels of analysis were considered: a macro level studying the identity of place in reference to the general social context and the residential neighbourhood, in particular; the second level refers to the dynamics of the couple and examines the strategies for managing differences between partners and the educational styles adopted in the presence of children. According to the basic assumptions of qualitative research, 22 mixed couples living in Sicily were interviewed. To analyse the contents which emerged from interviews the Atlas.ti software was used. Through the narrative method we explored the meanings that partners assign to their daily lives and differences they experienced. The results show that the diversity is perceived as a limit when it finds no support in the context in which the partners live; about the educational styles, the couple frequently adopts biculturalism together with bilingualism, as a strategy to evaluate the cultural background of both partners. Finally, the results show that the foreign partner must break away from his original culture, to avoid conflicts and discrimination in the context of immigration